The Colors Of Autumn
by Floodwell
Summary: The cold air could be felt blowing through Konoha. The trees had turned from their lively green color, to a more bitter orange hue. Autumn had arrived. ( NaruHina )
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in anyway.**

_Please leave reviews._

_====Chapter One====_

It was autumn, the air was chilly but the sun yet warm.

Hinata was slowly walking down a riverbank just outside Konoha, basking in the sunbeams on her face and admiring the orange-red leaves on the trees.  
A smile was brought to her lips as one of them began falling and slowly spinning. The orange color and the spinning reminded her of Uzumaki Naruto.  
The lovely boy she never could get out of her head, not that she ever wanted to.

Hinata held out her hand, waiting for the leaf to fall down into it. An even greater smile was brought to her lips, a smile full of hope and joy.  
As the leaf fell and settled in her open hand, the dry autumn leaf, crumbled.

Hinata widened her eyes as the dry pieces, too many to count, fell from her hand and tumbled towards the ground.  
The hopeful and joyous smile once on her lips faded. And instead a sad look was brought onto her face, a look of failure and cowardice.  
Normally, this would not be any reason to cause anyone any sadness, or pain. It was just the way of nature.  
But for Hinata this was like an omen, like a reminder of how she always was chasing after Naruto, wanting to catch up with him,  
to walk by his side, to reach out to him and tell him how she felt, how she always had felt. Only to each and every time, fail.  
Not able to bring herself to confront him. Scared he might not return her feelings. Feelings so strong they occupied her mind most of the time.

She let her hand fall down to the side of her hip.

She stood still for a moment, looking up at the sky. A tear began forming in her eye.

-_unh.. I'm so pathetic.._-  
she thought with and exasperated look on her face.

She turned around, facing the way which she came from and slowly began walking. Her head held down.

Hinata walked home that evening, not thinking about the people looking at her, obviously seeing the sadness in her.  
Once at home she curled up in her bed, hugging her pillow, Tears running down her cheeks.

"I really haven't changed at all.."  
she quietly said to herself  
"Naruto…Kun..i miss your smile.."

It had been two and a half years since Naruto left Konoha to train with his sensei Jiraiya-Sama.  
Hinata had grown from a cute girl to a wonderful and gorgeous young woman. But it wasn't only her body that had grown.  
No, Hinata was wrong. She definitely had changed. She was much more confident in herself.  
And she didn't stutter as much as she used to, but it was still a bad habit. Especially when she was embarrassed, confused, or if Naruto was mentioned.

In a way Naruto's absence had been good for Hinata. Not having him around meant she could focus on other things than him for once, at least to some degree.

* * *

The night passed quickly, and suddenly chirping birds could be heard all around the town.  
The day had just begun, so you could still hear the sound of people sleeping all over the town.  
Even at the gate, where two guards were supposed to take notes on anyone entering or leaving the town.

"Tsh!..how can you sleep so much Kotetsu!"

An irritated Izumo said as he punched his co-worker on the shoulder, making him fall over.

"Gah- Izumo! What are you doing, c'mon let me sleep, I'm tired"  
Kotetsu yawned.

"Tir-…TIRED?, YOU JUST GOT HERE, I'M THE ONE WHO HAD THE NIGHT SHIFT!"

"aaaww, someone's a little grumpy today"  
Kotetsu teasingly laughed.

"Why you litl-"  
But Izumo was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Aaah! Yatta! We're finally home!, Oi! Ero-Sennin hurry up! I can't believe you're the one dragging behind. Who is the teacher here anyway? Hehe"  
The boy said with a grin as he stood by the gates waiting for his Sensei to catch up.

"Tshk! You ungrateful brat, you can forget all about that Ramen that i promised to treat you to once we got back!"  
Jiraiya exclaimed.

"Ah!, Naruto! Jiraiya-Sama!"  
Izumo exclaimed.  
"It's great to see you guys! Welcome back"

"Oooh Izumo, Kotetsu, Keeping the town safe I hope"  
Jiraiya said as he tiredly walked up to the gate.

"Haha we try"  
he laughed.  
"Oi Naruto, you sure have grown up! Looking sharp my friend"

"Hehe thank you Izumo-San"  
Naruto grinned.

"Oi Kotetsu, come greet-"  
he sighed.  
"..I can't believe he's asleep again.."

On the other side of the town, In the Hyuuga Clan Main house a young Kunoichi was just waking up.  
Hinata stretched out of bed, and changed out of her sleeping attire; a gray t-shirt and panties. And put on freshly laundered Underwear.  
She yawned and stretched a little more before putting on the rest of her clothes. She gently pulled on a gray mesh under-shirt, a lavender jacket with cream colored sleeves, blue pants and black sandals.

She zipped up her jacket as she slowly walked over to her window, she pulled back the curtains and opened the window and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air.  
Her feelings were completely neutral this morning. She was not happy, but not sad.  
But that quickly changed once she took a look at the trees outside, and saw the orange leaves falling to the ground. The feelings from yesterday started coming back to her.  
She sighed and closed the window as she heard a knock at her bedroom door.

"Onee-san, you awake?"  
a voice came from outside.

"Oh, Hanabi, yes I'm awake"  
Hinata answered her sister.

"Father made breakfast"  
Hanabi said.

"Um.. No thanks, I'm fine for today"  
Hinata muttered

"…Ok"  
Hanabi could sense the sadness in her sisters voice.

As young, they were never really close. But over the latest years they had become very close, and Hanabi could read her older sister like an open book.  
As the first-born to the Head of the Main House, Hinata was to be the Heiress of the family, but was deemed unfit because of her lack of self-confidence, and the position were to go to Hanabi instead.  
Hinata never despised her sister for this, and Hanabi knew that, but she still felt a little guilty because of it. Feeling as tough she had '_snatched'_ the position from Hinata.  
She was after all, the rightful Heiress. Also, that would mean that, eventually, Hinata would receive the Curse-Seal. A fate that Hanabi never wished upon her older sister, and Hinata never would wish upon Hanabi.

Their father Hiashi Hyuuga, was a very strict and stern man, who pushed his daughters to train and get stronger not really showing much affection for them. However, he always harbored a deep affection for them both. And in the latest years he had become slightly more open with them, and had even told them that he believed in them. He was also trying hard to mend the distance between the Main House, and the Branch House. And as of late he was deeply conflicted on which of his daughters to choose as the Heiress. Since Hinata had shown much more promise in both strength, skill and confidence over the recent years. He felt as if, perhaps the position should go to her after all. He wanted the best for both of them, of course. Which he realized was not easy to find whilst wearing the name of Hyuuga.

Hinata skipped breakfast this morning because she was feeling down. She decided to go for a morning run, as she often did. And after, do some combat training. That always seemed to bring her to a better mood.

As she stepped outside the Main House, and was just about to pass through the garden, she noticed her cousin, Neji Hyuuga Meditating.

"Good morning Hinata-Dono"  
Neji said, still meditating.

"Good morning Neji-Niisan"  
Hinata answered with a smile on her face.  
"I've told you there really is no need to add the Dono suffix to my name"

Neji shook his head.  
"I like it. It fits you"

She smiled.

"Not eating breakfast this morning?"

"No.. I'm going for a run and some training"  
she answered with a sheepish smile as she started jogging down the street.

Ever since Hiashi took Neji in under his wing, and roof, caring for him as his own son. He had connected with his uncle and cousins very deeply, and he was grateful for it. He cared for all three of them greatly. And held big concerns for Hinata, even though he knew she was much stronger both physically and mentally now. But she would still seem depressed at times. And he hated seeing her like that. He often treated her as his own sweet little sister. And was always looking out for her. He knew when she was putting up a fake smile. He had confronted her on the matter a number of times, but she would always dismiss it as nothing, or come up with some poor excuse.

Hinata had been jogging for an hour now as she entered one of her favorite training spots. It was in the middle of a small forest. There were three wooden training poles meant for Kunai and Shuriken targeting, and three padded wooden poles meant for melee training. There was also plenty of tree stubs perfect for sitting down and rest on, and a waterfall connected to a river.

Hinata felt so comfortable here, she would rarely see anybody else here, in fact, she had never seen anyone here. It was almost as if no one knew this spot existed. It was like her own little safe haven. She came here often, and for everything, Solo-training, studying, thinking (mainly of her beloved crush) or just to get away from everything when things got her down. She sighed as she sat down on one of the tree stubs.

Her breath was fast, and her chest was furiously heaving up and down. She almost felt faint.

"I must have pushed myself a little too hard this morning.."  
she said to herself quietly.

It was still very early in the morning. Hinata looked around, there was no one in sight, as always.

"So lovely and quiet here"  
she said as she zipped down her jacket and placed it on the tree stub she just sat on.

She was feeling kind of warm from the run she had, not to mention tired. She laid down on a pile of leaves to rest, even though it was very chilly outside. But she felt warm.

-_I better watch out so I don't fall asleep here, i could get a cold_-

* * *

At the same time in the middle of the town, at a restaurant called Ichiraku.

"Teuchi! Ayame-chan! I'm finally home! And I am craving for some Miso-Ramen!"  
Naruto exclaimed as he almost exploded into the restaurant.

"Naruto! Welcome back! We've missed our favorite costumer!"  
Teuchi said with a warm welcome.

"Naruto! How have you've been, wow you have grown so much! When did you get back?"  
Ayame exclaimed.

"Hehe, thank you!"  
Naruto grinned.  
"I just came back one or two hours ago! *Cough* still waiting for that Ramen by the way *Cough*"

"aah, sorry my friend, coming right up"  
Teuchi laughed as he started on the dish.

"Hehe"  
Naruto grinned as he leaned back while putting his hands behind his head.

**The clouds swiftly passed in the sky, growing darker, and darker.**  
**The air slowly but surely started to fade into mist, as the temperature quickly dropped.**

"Mfffhhb, Sfoo Gooofd"  
Naruto tried to speak while shoving ramen into his mouth.

"Naruto!"  
Ayame exclaimed.  
"Swallow your food before you speak, how are you ever going to find a woman with that rude manor"  
she said, though softly giggling, happy that he still was the same old Naruto.

"Hehehe, Sorry Ayame-Chan, it's just so good that I don't have time to swallow when speaking"  
he grinned.

"You've really been scuffing them down today Naruto"  
Teuchi said.  
"Want me to make you another bowl? That would add up to ten bowls"

"It's tempting, but I'm starting to feel really full, I should probably go and try to find some of my friends, I haven't seen them in a long time!"  
Naruto explained  
"I've been sitting here eating for a few hours now, so most of them should have woken up by now"  
Naruto paid and started to leave.

"Okay, Bye Naruto! Good to have you back"  
Teuchi exclaimed as he waved to his dear costumer.

* * *

Hinata opened her eyes, for a moment she just laid there, looking up at the sky. She noticed it had become rather misty and she felt very, very cold.

"Aah! No, I fell asleep!"  
she exclaimed as she hastily sprung up and grabbed her jacket. She put it on, and zipped it up.

As the zipper reached near her neck and her hand accidentally nudged her throat, she could feel a sore lump inside her throat.

-_Great.._-  
she thought.  
-_I'm going to get sick now… how could i let myself fall asleep out here_-

Hinata started making her way back home, rubbing her arms and blowing air into her hands as she walked with a quick pace.  
On her way home she met Tenten.

"Ah! good evening Hinata"  
she said kindly  
"How are you today?"

"Hello..Tenten..."  
Hinata struggled to get the words out her sore throat.  
"I..I have a really sore throat.. I think I'm coming down with a nasty cold"

"Oh, Hinata, that sounds really bad"  
Tenten frowned.  
"You should go home and rest"  
she continued.

Hinata nodded.

"I hope you feel better soon Hinata"  
she smiled.  
"Well, I'm off to catch up with Lee, we're going to meet up with Naruto"  
she continued.  
"Lee is really excited to finally see his sparing rival again after all these years"  
Tenten laughed.

Hinata froze up for a second..  
Did she.. Did Tenten just mention _**Naruto**_?!

"Uhh…*Cough*"  
Hinata tried to get her words out.  
"Uhm.. Did you just say Na.. Naruto-Kun?.."

"Hmm? Ah! Yeah, he reached the village this morning"

_The whole world stopped for a moment.._  
_Naruto was back.._  
_Finally after all these years, she would be able to see him again. Her heart started to flutter, she couldn't remember the last time she felt this excited._

"Anyway I should probably hurry, don't want to make Lee wait for me, you know how he ca-"  
She was interrupted.

"Um..Ten..Tenten, I..I want to come with you.."  
Hinata nervously said with a slight pink blush on her cheeks.

"What?, No, Hinata you really should get some rest, you sound awful"

"No…I..I feel fine…Honestly.."  
Hinata lied.  
"I…Just don't want to go home yet, I get so bored at home..i want to hang out with you guys…"

She lied again, she loved her friends. But right now, the only thing she cared about was to see Naruto again. Oh, how she had longed to see him, his blond beautiful hair, his shimmering bright blue eyes. She wondered how much taller he had gotten, or maybe he hadn't grown much at all? So many thoughts were racing through her head at this moment.

"Well..Okay Hinata, but if you suddenly start to feel worse, you really should go straight home and nurse your cold"  
Tenten said with a concern in her voice.  
Hinata nodded.

Hinata and Tenten had caught up with Lee, and they were walking down the roads of Konoha, on their way meet Naruto. Hinata still couldn't believe it, she was going to see _her_ Naruto-Kun. What would she say to him?, would she finally confess to him? She wanted to so bad, but she wanted to do it while she was alone with him, not with all their friends around, she could never do that, that would be way to embarrassing. And furthermore, would she even be able to?...

"Naruto!"  
Tenten and Lee shouted in unison, as they ran toward their old friend and classmate.

Hinata had been so deep in her thoughts, that she hadn't even realized they had finally gotten into eyesight of her beloved crush. There he stood, approximately 80 meters away from her, already talking with Shikamaru and Choji. Hinata watched as Tenten and Lee ran up to Naruto and started exchanging stories and questions with him, Lee had already challenged him to a duel.

"N…Naruto..Kun.."  
Hinata muttered slightly.

But Hinata couldn't move, her face quickly turned a bright red hue. He was so stunning. He definitely had grown, definitely taller than her. She cringed at the thought of how it would be like hugging him.. Or even kissing him! An image appeared in her head; Him, standing tall, her, pressed up against his body, standing on her toes, her head tilted up as their lips met in a passio-

"Eeep!"  
she panicked at her imagination!

He hadn't noticed her yet, she quickly hid behind a fence, peeking through the cracks of the wood. Everyone of their friends seemed to have gathered around Naruto now, Sakura, Kiba, Ino, Shino~ Everyone was there… Everyone but Hinata, she was cowering behind a fence.

-_…why..why am I so pathetic_-

Hinata just stood there behind that fence watching all her friends laugh with Naruto.  
Lee noticed that Hinata wasn't with the rest of the group.

"Hinata-chan?"  
Lee said.  
"Where did Hinata-chan go?"  
He asked Tenten.

Tenten looked around.  
"Oh, actually she was getting a cold, I told her she should go home and rest if she started feeling worse"  
Tenten explained  
"I guess she did start to feel worse"

"Oh, Poor Hinata-Chan"  
Lee said with a concerning sound in his voice.

Hinata stood there, hidden for a few minutes. Until she saw the crowd saying goodbye to him, and waving as they started walking away. Naruto stood still, waving back.  
The group quickly disappeared behind a building.

"N-Naruto-Kun…"

This was her chance. She gathered all the strength she had and almost flew out from her hiding spot. For a second she just stood there, watching Naruto's back.  
Naruto put his hands behind his head and slowly started to walk forwards, away from Hinata.  
She hesitated, but quickly regained some confidence. She started walking towards him, after a few steps she started walking faster, and faster. It wasn't long until she was running.

Hinata's heart was beating so fast it almost hurt. Her cheeks had turned to a bright red blush.

Before she had time to even think, she found herself right behind Naruto. Just a few steps away.  
She panicked as she forced herself to stop, making her fall quickly forwards!

A loud _**crash**_ could be heard, followed by some groaning.

"uuuh…Tshk! If this is your funny idea of a surprise attack Kiba, then it's not very-"  
Naruto exclaimed as he slowly opened his eyes while rubbing the back of his head.  
His eyes widened.  
"Hin..Hinata-chan?"  
he looked shocked.

She was laying on top of him, their faces inches away from each other.  
Hinata widened her eyes. Her big round lavender eyes was staring right into his bright blue eyes.

"n-n-naruto..k-kun!"  
she managed to mutter as she started to shiver violently.

Her entire face turned into a bright crimson colored hue.  
Hinata quickly tried to get up, but slipped with her left foot causing her to slightly fall over again.  
Naruto was already on his feet. He quickly caught his hand on her back and helped her to her feet again.

"Hinata-chan"  
he exclaimed  
"Are you alright?"

She grabbed on to both his sleeves as he helped her stand.  
With her face still blushing she looked at him trying not to stutter as she answered him.

"Y-yes..N-naruto-kun..I'm f-fine"  
she tried to focus her eyes on something else than him, but each time they trailed back to his eyes, almost automatically.

"Hinata-chan, what happened?"  
he raised his eyebrows  
"Was this a surprise attack after all?"  
he jokingly asked as he laughed.

"N-no! of course n-not Naruto-Kun!"  
Hinata nervously exclaimed.

She flinched slightly, it hurt her throat each time she spoke

-_uhnn..Damn this cold.._-

"Haha calm down Hinata-chan, it was a joke, a joke!"  
Naruto grinned.  
"Ah, Hinata-chan? Are you feeling okay?"  
he noticed her flinching.  
"Actually, your voice sounds a little rough, you sick?"  
he raised his eyebrows.

Hinata cringed, she didn't want to look weak in front of him.

"N-no, I'm just fine N-naruto-kun…t-thank you.."  
she let out a small smile, touched that he seemed to worry about her health.

"You sure Hinata-chan?"  
he looked at her curiously.

She nodded shyly.

"well good then"  
he smiled at her  
"uh, but. Are you having trouble standing up or something?"

"uh… huh?"  
Hinata was confused. Then she noticed she was still holding his sleeves tightly.

"EEepp!..."  
she quickly let go of his sleeves and backed up a few steps.  
"Um, n-n-no.. m-my feet are fine.. i…i.."  
she softly bit her lip as she held her hands between her chest. She didn't know where to focus her eyes.

"Okay.. well, good"  
he smiled.  
"Oh, actually, I gotta go Hinata-chan, I'm late for a meeting with Tsunade-baachan."

"oh..o-ok Naruto-kun"  
Hinata smiled softly.

She had hoped to talk to him a while longer, but at least she had talked to him a little.. and even more, she fell on him! She blushed at the thought of it.

"I'ts a shame you didn't show up a little earlier with the rest of the group, so I could have caught up with you as well Hinata-chan"

-_I'm such an idiot_\- she thought to herself.

"Sorry Naruto-kun.."  
she sighed.

"Well, I don't have anything planned tomorrow, what do you say we meet up at noon, and we'll catch up then?"  
Naruto put his hands behind his head as he smiled at her.

-_What?...Did Naruto just ask me out for tomorrow?!.._-  
-_He wants to spend time with me!_-

"uuhh..Hinata-chan?"  
he leaned forwards questioning.

"y-yes! i-i-i'd love to N-naruto-kun!"  
she exclaimed, almost yelling.

"Great!"  
he chuckled  
"I'll see ya tomorrow then Hinata-chan"  
he continued as he walked away waving.

"Yes, T-tommorow, n-naruto-kun!"  
she answered back waving.

Hinata watched as he quickly jumped from rooftop to rooftop.  
For a moment she stood still almost frozen, it felt as if she had a thousand butterflies in her stomach.

"Naruto-kun.."  
she had a huge smile on her lips and a big blush on her cheeks.

As she walked home she couldn't stop thinking of him. His spiky blond hair, sparkling blue eyes.  
Oh god she felt so happy.

* * *

As Naruto made his way to the Hokage tower, he couldn't help himself to think about Hinata's big lavender eyes, they were beautiful. And not only her eyes, in fact everything about her was beautiful.  
Naruto had never really thought much about women in this way before. When he was younger he had a small childish crush on Sakura, but it had developed into a brother-sister relationship. After that he never paid much attention to women in a sexual way.  
Naruto thought back to the years before his training with Jiraiya, and how Hinata used to look like, sure he had always thought of her as a very cute girl, cute but silent. But never anything past that.  
She sure had grown since then.  
Her hair was much longer, it went way past her shoulders now. And she was taller, not as tall as Naruto, but still taller. She had a much more mature face as well, a face of a real woman.  
And her body, wow.

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. A light pink blush developed on his cheeks as he thought about Hinata's body.  
She was a real woman now, long beautiful legs, nicely wide hips. And she was slightly chubby, only slightly. Which greatly helped showing of her curves, and only made her more desirable.  
Her hands and feet were small, as a woman's should be, and she had very fair light skin.  
And what's more.. He couldn't help but notice her breasts. They weren't Huge, like Tsunade-Baachan's but they were definitely larger than the other girls of their age.

Naruto quickly shook his head.  
"What am I thinking about"  
he said to himself.  
"Gah! I've been spending too much time with Ero-Sennin"  
he blasted out as he continued his way towards the Hokage tower.

Hinata had made her way home by now. She stood in her room looking out the window. She smiled as she watched the orange autumn leafs on the trees outside.  
She let out a small sigh, and walked towards the private bathroom connected to her room, she stepped inside and started filling up the bathtub with hot water. As she waited for the bath to complete she dressed down to her underwear and sat down on a chair in her room, in front of a mirror.  
She noticed her hair had become slightly tangled in a few places, so she ran her fingers through it.  
Hinata stared at herself in the mirror for a while.

-_Could Naruto really be interested in this?_-  
she thought.

Her eyes wandered up and down her entire body as if she was searching for some huge flaw.  
She softly put her hands on her chest and gently squeezed her breasts. She didn't feel comfortable with the size of them, she always thought they were a little too big, but it didn't bother her too much.  
She looked down and put her hands on her stomach. She had always been a little chubby, and even though she trained regularly, and jogged almost every day, she never seemed to get rid of the extra weight. She was very self-conscious about this.

Hinata sighed as she stood up and walked over to the bath.  
She slowly took of her undergarments, revealing her big, but perky breasts.  
She climbed into the hot bath, and slowly drifted in her fantasies.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in anyway.**  
_Hi everyone! Here's chapter two._

_Please leave reviews._

_====Chapter Two====_

Hinata tossed and turned in her bed, sweating heavily.  
She hastily woke up coughing. She sat up in her bed, her sheets and blanket was soaked, and her pillow was a soggy mess.  
As she breathed heavily she heard a knock on her door.

"Onee-san?.. are you ok?.."  
Hanabi asked as she slowly opened the door.

"Hanabi.."  
Hinata muttered.  
"No..i don't feel well at all, I feel horrible.."

"Oh my god, Hinata!"  
"You look awful, you're really pale"  
Hanabi rushed in and put her hand on Hinata's forehead.  
"Hinata…You're burning up!"  
"Lay down, I'm gonna get father!"  
Hanabi quickly rushed out of Hinata's room, and down the hall.

A few minutes passed as Hinata was sweating, and constantly panting. Her eyes fixed at a spot on the ceiling.

"Hinata!"

A rather booming voice was heard. Hinata slowly turned her head, it was Hiashi.  
He stood next to her with concerning eyes.

"Father.."  
Hinata just barely managed to mumble.

"Shh, don't speak"  
he commanded as he put his hand on her forehead.  
"… Neji!"  
"Contact the hospital, and tell them to send a medical team right away!"

"Yes uncle!"  
Neji quickly answered.

He had been standing in Hinata's doorway. But was now halfway out of the Hyuuga Mansion.

"Don't worry Daughter. I'll be by your side until you feel well, and I'll make sure the medics gives you the best treatment available"  
Hiashi said with a stern, yet soft voice.

Hinata looked her father straight in the eyes. She knew her father loved her, but it had been years since he had looked at her with such loving and concerning eyes.  
She struggled to hold back her tears, but a few still broke through.  
Hiashi gently wiped her tears.

"Rest for now… Everything will be fine"  
He turned to Hanabi.  
"Stay with you sister, if she needs anything you get it, understood?"

"Of course father!"  
Hanabi pulled up a chair and sat next to her sister

At that, Hiashi exited the room.

"Do you want me to get you a glass of water?"

"No..i-i'm fine.."

"Hinata.. You should drink something, you need to stay hydrated. I'll go get you some, just in case"  
Hanabi walked over to the window.  
"I'll just let some light in your room, it might get your spirits up"  
she smiled as she pulled back the curtains.  
"See? Much better. I'll be right back with your water sis"

Hinata slowly turned her head to look out the window. She could see the mountains. It was a wonderful view. Her eyes trailed around a few times, until she focused her sight on the trees. The orange autumn trees..  
She felt as if she had forgotten something..

-_Shit!.._-  
her eyes widened.

She quickly sat up in her bed and flung her head, facing the clock on her wall. It was almost noon.

-_Noo! I'm supposed to meet Naruto-kun today!_-  
she lowered her eyebrows.  
-_..This isn't fair…Why did I have to get sick now?!_-  
she had an almost agonizing look on her face.

She furiously grabbed her sheets.

-_Damn it!__.._-

Hanabi stepped into the room, holding a glass of water.

"Hinata.. what's wrong? You look.. Kind of mad"  
she giggled at the last part as she placed the glass of water down at the side table.

Hinata hadn't even noticed her sister entering the room. She turned to face her. She wasn't just angry, she was obviously also sad.

"It's nothing.."  
she barely managed to say before she started coughing.

"Hinata.. Clearly there is something else than your illness bothering you.."  
she lowered her eyebrows.  
"I know you.."

She took her sisters hand and placed it between her own palms.

"Talk to me"  
she gave Hinata a soft smile.

"..Hanabi.."  
"It's just..."  
A light pink blush spread across her cheeks.

"Ooohh! I get it! It's a boy isn't it?"  
Hanabi's eyes lit up as she smiled.

Hinata didn't answer, instead she slightly started cringing as she quickly looked down.

"Or.. Maybe it's a girl?.. I'm not judging"  
she teased her sister.

"Hanabi! i-i'm not.."

"Haha I'm joking, calm down"  
"Now come on, won't you tell me?"

"..Well.."  
her face turned red.  
"I'ts..Naruto…Kun.."  
she pulled her legs up to her face and hid her face between her knees.

"Naruto?.. Uzumaki Naruto?"  
Hanabi asked curiously.

Hinata didn't answer, instead she buried her head deeper between her knees.

"Hmm... Yeah, I think I can see it now"  
"That's a good fit Hinata"  
she chuckled and smiled at her.

Hinata blushed.

"I was supposed to see him today… But now I can't"  
she sighed.

"Oh.. I'm so sorry Hinata"  
Hanabi said with an apologetic frown.

Neji softly knocked on the door before he opened it.

"Hinata-Dono, The medical team has arrived"  
he explained as he stepped to the side.

Three women entered the room, Followed by Hiashi.  
He gestured to Hanabi to leave the room with Neji.  
She bowed as she exited with Neji.

The medical team bowed to Hinata before they started examine her.  
She felt a little awkward, all those eyes examining every inch of her body.

Fifteen minutes passed. And finally the examination was over.

"Hinata-Sama"

One of the nurses spoke

"It seems you have contracted a virus in your lungs. Now we're going to give you some pills to counter the virus. By our calculations you should be fully restored after two weeks. But you should be able to leave the house after only a few days, as long as you wear warm clothing"

Hinata listened closely and nodded.

-_A few days.. Naruto-Kun. I'm sorry.._-  
Hinata sighed.

* * *

Naruto was leaning over a bridge at the spot him and Hinata was supposed to meet up at.  
He looked around at the passing people. He had been standing there for an hour now.

"Man.. I guess she's not showing up then"  
he muttered.  
"Why did she even agree to meet up if she wasn't gonna show?"

He leaned up from the railing and sighed. He felt rather disappointed. He didn't really know why, but he had hoped to see Hinata today.

As Naruto walked along the streets of Konoha he couldn't help but picture Hinata's big lavender eyes.  
Suddenly he heard someone calling his name.

"Naruto!"

He turned around and saw Sakura running towards him.

"Eh, Sakura-Chan, what's up?"

"Naruto, Tsunade-Sama has called for a meeting with us and Asuma's team"  
Sakura answered.

"A meeting?, you mean, like for a mission?"  
he exclaimed.

"I think so, it seems like it"

"Alright!"  
se felt excited. A chance to show off his new skills!  
"Let's get going!"

They rushed of towards the Hokage tower.

As they entered the Hokage office, Azuma and his team; Ino, Shikamaru and Choji was already there.  
As was Yamato and Sai.  
Naruto gave Sai a rather disapproving look, the first time they had met it hadn't gone very well.

-_Gh, That guy.._-

"Naruto, Sakura. Good, you're here, then we can begin."  
Tsunade said.  
"I'll get right to it…"  
"The mission I will be assigning you will be a very dangerous one.."  
"A group of rogue shinobi's has been roaming the north-west outskirts of the fire country, murdering, plundering.."  
she paused for a second and sighed.  
"..And 'Violating' women"

Ino and Sakura tensed up.

"They're considered extremely dangerous, and need to be dealt with immediately"  
"This is not a capturing mission.. It's killed or be killed.."  
"Now, before we continue any further"  
she looked at Ino and Sakura.  
"I will ask you two, if you feel any doubt about this mission, any at all, you're free to drop out.."

Ino and Sakura quickly shared a look, and then nodded.

"No mam!"  
They exclaimed in unison.

"Good…"  
she had a serious look on her face.  
"It's a dangerous S-Class mission. But I have all confidence that the eight of you should manage this. With Yamato's and Shikamaru's skills, you should be able to easily slow them down, or contain them"  
"But don't let that lower your guard.. And never split from the group unless absolutely necessary"  
"If, you find yourself needing reinforcements. Release the seal on this scroll. And we will send another group immediately."  
she threw a scroll to Yamato.

Tsunade gave Shizune a look, and gestured to her.  
Shizune quickly rumbled through a stack of paper, and started handing out the mission information papers.

"Gather your belongings, you leave immediately"

After a few minutes of gathering their gear, the group met at the front gate.  
Yamato took the lead.

"Alright guys. We have a long road ahead of us, it's already passed noon, and we need to get there as soon as possible. But it will probably take two or three days until we reach our destination. We will keep going until dawn before setting camp"

"Yosh!"  
Naruto exclaimed.  
"Let's take these bastards down!"

* * *

Hinata stepped out on the patio of the Hyuuga main house.  
She sat down on the stairs and sighed as she gently brushed the back of her hair over her shoulder.  
Letting it fall down her front.

It had been three days since her examination. And she felt much better, her throat didn't hurt, and she felt no need to cough anymore.  
And she was finally able to go outside. She was supposed to be relieved now. But instead, she was frustrated, and incredibly worried.  
Naruto had been sent on a dangerous mission. Once again he had fallen out of her reach.

-_Naruto-Kun.._-  
-_Why am I so unlucky_-  
she clenched her fists.  
-_Am I not allowed to be with him?.._-  
-_Am I not even allowed to try?.._-

She leaned her head and rested it on the wall to her right. The hair resting on her shoulder fell over her face, almost covering it completely.

"Damn it…"  
she frowned and bit her lower lip.  
"Damn it.. Damn it, Damn it, **Damn it!**"  
her lip slightly started to bleed as she bit down harder.  
She stayed like that for a long while, before getting up and entering the house again.

Hinata put on her jacket and zipped it up, she also threw on red scarf, and spun it around her neck.  
The virus in her lungs had been shut down by the medication. But it was still possible to become active if she wasn't careful. Just a few more weeks, and the medication would get rid of the virus completely.  
She left the house and went down the streets. She couldn't help but notice all the couples she passed on the streets. She gave them all an envious look. She wanted what they had, she wanted it bad. And she wanted it with none other than Naruto.

She sat down on a bench outside a flower shop, letting her mind race for a minute.  
She sighed again, her breath letting out a fog-like vapor.  
Staring at the ground, she clenched her fists. She was tired of never being able to tell Naruto how she felt.

-_Why can't I be more confident.._-

As she looked up across the street, she noticed yet another loving couple, holding hands.

-_Fuck… That's it!_-

Hinata couldn't take it anymore. She fastened her eyes on the clouds in the sky.  
With her mind made up, she nodded with a determined look across her face.

-_I'm going to tell him.._-  
-_The next time i see Naruto-Kun.. I'm going to confess. I have to!_-

Hinata proudly walked down the streets, feeling a little more confident in herself.

**Blurry lines was hurryingly flashing trough the tree branches amongst the large trees.**  
**They quickly came to a halt.**

"…"  
"There…"  
Yamato discretely pointed down towards a clearing in the middle of the forest.

Five tents could be seen, and a small bonfire between them.  
At the bonfire sat three men. One of them had a large sword strapped to his back.

"That's the targets…"  
Asuma whispered with a serious tone in his voice.

"…Something's not right…"

Everyone looked at Shikamaru.

"What is it?.."  
Ino whispered.

"The intel says they're a group of four, but there is only three"  
he answered.

Naruto looked down at the clearing.  
"Maybe the fourth one is in one of the tents?.."

"That's the other thing…"  
Shikamaru said narrowing his eyes.  
"There's supposed to be four of them, but there are five tents…"

Suddenly one of the tents opened, and a fourth man walked out.

"She's all yours, Masaru"  
The man said as he walked over to the bonfire and sat down.

"Finally"  
One of the men said as he stood up.  
"You took too long Katsuo!"

"Heh, a gentleman always takes his time"  
Katsuo laughed.

"Whatever.."  
Masaru shook his head as he walked towards the tent.

Ino and Sakura both cringed, with a look of disgust on their faces.

"This is bad…"  
Yamato whispered, narrowing his eyes.

"What is it?.."  
Naruto asked. Oblivious to what they had just witnessed.

Shikamaru sighed and looked at him.  
"…They have a woman in that tent.."

Naruto looked confused. But suddenly he widened his eyes.  
"What?!"  
he flung his head towards the clearing.  
"Those bastards!…"  
he clenched his fists. And quickly dropped down from the treetop.

"Wait!"  
Yamato exclaimed.

But it was too late, he was already at the clearing.

"Let her go you bastards!"  
Naruto yelled as he threw three shurikens at the man just about to enter the tent.

Masaru quickly blocked them with his short sword.  
Two of the three men sitting at the fire, quickly jumped up.

"Who might this be?"  
Katsuo said as he pulled out a kunai.  
"The girl's boyfriend perhaps?"  
he grinned.

"It doesn't matter…"  
The other one calmly said.  
"He dies"

Just as he was about to attack Naruto. The last man slowly stood up.

"Isamu!.. Stand down"

"…"  
he backed a few steps.  
"Yes Noburu…"

Noburu, was the one with the giant sword attached to his back.  
He looked at Naruto.

"This one's not alone"  
he shot a glare at the treetops behind Naruto.

Yamato flinched.  
"Shit! We've been discovered!"

"Show yourselves"  
Noburu demanded.

A few seconds passed, but it wasn't long before the rest of the group dropped down to Naruto's side.  
Leaving only Yamato and Shikamaru in the shadows.

"Naruto you blew our cover!.."  
Sakura whispered.

"…No, the guy with that huge sword seems to have noticed us before Naruto charged in.."  
Asuma answered.

Katsuo looked over at Ino and Sakura.

"Well, what do we have here"  
he lifted his kunai in front of his mouth and licked the blade.  
"Wanna have some fun with me?"

Ino began to tremble. But Sakura got enraged.

"Oh I'll have some fun"  
she answered as she cracked her knuckles.  
"I'll have some fun while I kick the living shit out of you!"

"Oh?, why don't you try?.. Bitch"  
He quickly sprinted towards her, with his kunai held above his head, ready to strike.

Suddenly tree branches shot out from the bushes at the side of them. Blocking Katsuo from advancing. The branches split, and reached towards him. But he quickly managed to jump back, dodging them.

"Gh, whew! What the hell was that?"  
he exclaimed.

"…"  
Noburu glared to his side.  
"There are more of them.."

He gestured to Isamu and Masaru.

"Find them!"  
he demanded

"Yes, Noburu!"  
Isamu exclaimed.

But he couldn't move. Neither could Masaru.

"Wha- What the hell is this?"  
Masaru exclaimed.

"Isamu! Masaru! What are you doing? Go! Now!"  
Noburu commanded with a stern tone.

"…Boss… We can't move, they must have done something.."  
Isamu replied.

Shikamaru had used his shadow binding jutsu on them while Yamato used his branches to block them. But he was only able to constrain two of them.  
Noburu looked at Katsuo, the two of them could still move.  
He reached back his hand and grabbed the hilt of his enormous sword.

"Masaru"  
he looked at him  
"Handle the one hiding over there"  
he glared over to where Yamato was.

Masaru nodded. But before he made his way over there, he walked towards the tent with the girl in it.

"No evidence left behind…"

He had a sinister smile on his face as he threw a kunai with an explosion tag at its hilt, directly into the tent.  
A muffled scream was heard, followed by a minor explosion.  
He then disappeared into the woods

Naruto and his group widened their eyes in shock.  
"…You…..Bastards….."

"I'll take care of the rest of you myself"  
Noburu grinned as he drew his sword.

Masaru jumped from branch to branch, searching.

"There you are"  
he exclaimed as he landed in front of Yamato.  
"You know, it's very rude to spy on people like that"

Yamato was silent.

"It's even ruder to not answer people when they speak to you"

"I have nothing to say to scums like you.."  
Yamato replied as he quickly made a hand seal and shot out branches from his shoulders. But missing him.

"You're gonna have to do better than that"  
Masaru taunted him.

* * *

Hinata arrived at her favorite training spot.

She immediately sat down on one of the tree stubs. She sighed as she looked up at the sky.

-_Naruto-Kun.._-

Her hands trembled. She had heard the mission details from Kurenai. She was incredibly worried about him.  
He was always kind of impulsive, and she loved that about him. But she always worried it might get him into trouble. And especially during a mission like this.  
She stood up and stretched a bit.

-_Be careful…Naruto-Kun_-  
she thought with an anxious look on her face.

Hinata walked over to one of the padded melee training pole. She took a deep breath. And began focusing her chakra unto her hands. She had a determined look on her face now.

-_I must get stronger…_-

She quickly began striking the pole with all her force.

An hour passed by.  
Hinata had been training constantly. She was exhausted, so she sat down on one of the stubs, panting.

"Haa, haa, haa… That'll have to do…"  
she huffed.

She looked over at the waterfall, rushing down the river.  
She would like nothing more right now, than to dress down to her underwear and take a nice bath in the river, like she often did during the summer after training excessively.  
But it was way too cold for that now. And with the virus still in her lungs, she couldn't risk it.  
The wind began to blow faster.

-_Guess I'll head back_-  
she thought as her ink colored hair danced around with the wind.

As Hinata walked down the streets of Konoha. She heard Kiba calling her name.

"Hinata!"

She looked up to her side.  
"Oh, hi Kiba"

"Yahoo!"  
he jumped down from a roof with Akamaru by his side.  
"There you are, I've been looking for you"  
he said as Akamaru stroked his head on her hand.

She smiled as she patted him on his head.  
"You have?"  
she asked.  
"We didn't have any training today, did we?"

"Nah, but Kurenai was looking for us, seemed important, we should probably hurry. She's waiting in front of the Hokage tower with Shino"

"Oh, okay"

They rushed over to Kurenai.

"You found her, good"  
Kurenai said as Hinata and Kiba walked up to her and Shino.

"Good day Sensei"  
Hinata kindly greeted her.

"Hello Hinata. I'm glad you're able to go outside again, that virus must have been horrible, huh?"

Hinata nodded.  
_-If you only knew…-_

"Alright. Anyway.."  
A serious look spread across Kurenai's face.  
"As you all know, Asuma's team, along with captain Yamato, Naruto, Sakura and Sai. Has been sent on an S-class mission. With them, they had an instant-message scroll. Used to contact the person with the other scroll linked to it. Tsunade told them to release the seal on it, which would notify her instantly, If they requested backup. Fifteen minutes ago, that seal was released. And the location of a meeting place appeared on the scroll"

Kurenai looked at Hinata.  
"Tsunade wants to send a team with good tracking, and sensor skills. Which would fit us perfectly. So she decided on us"

Hinata widened her eyes.

"Hinata… You already know the mission details"  
Kurenai lowered her eyebrows.  
"You know the risks for you and me going on this mission. Tsunade has offered you to decline if you choose to…"

Hinata shrugged slightly, and felt sweat dripping from the side of her head.

-_Naruto-Kun…_-

She shook her head.  
"No!, I'll go. I'll be fine.."

"Alright…"  
Kurenai sighed.  
"We leave in five minutes. Gather your gear, I'll be waiting at the gate"

* * *

A large clanging noise echoed through the forest.

"Gh… You bastard"  
Naruto exclaimed as he blocked Noburu's sword with a kunai.

Noburu grinned.  
"I'm impressed you've managed to hold out this long. And blocking my attack…"  
"But neither you nor your friends are looking too well… I wonder… How much longer can you hold out?.."

They were all badly injured, but none fatal. They had barely managed to injure Noburu.  
Naruto managed to push him backwards. He quickly formed a hand seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

With some of the last amount of chakra he could muster up, he managed to form three shadow clones.  
As he sent two of them at Noburu, pushing him off a little further.  
The third one furiously started scratching the air above his hand, molding the energy, as he focused his chakra into a spinning blue ball.

"Rasengan!"  
he yelled as he released his shadow clones.

He quickly pushed himself off the ground with his feet, sending him flying towards Noburu.

-_Come on!.._-  
he clenched his teeth as he closed in on him.

But just as it seemed his attack was going to land. Noburu gently sidestepped, avoiding his attack. And sending Naruto straight towards a tree.

-_Shit!_-

The tree got ripped to shreds, leaving it completely obliterated.

"Naruto!"  
Sakura widened her eyes.

She fell to her knees as she tried to run over to him, she was exhausted.  
Naruto was kneeling in the rubble of what used to be a tree. He grasped his shoulder, it had become dislocated during the impact.

"Gh… You bastard… I'll rip you apart!"

"That was quite a show. I'll give you that"  
Noburu grinned.  
"But look around you… your friends can barely stand up. It's over.."  
he lowered his sword, pointing it at Naruto.

But just as he was about to drive his sword forwards at an attempt to impale him, he stumbled and let out a painful scream.

"Noburu-Sama!"  
Isamu exclaimed.

He was still being held by Shikamaru's shadow jutsu, as was Katsuo. But Shikamaru was at his limit.

Noburu quickly jumped over to his companions. He had been impaled in the leg by Yamato's Wood Release jutsu.

"…Isamu, Katsuo. It's time to leave"

"What? Because of that scratch? You had them! And what about Masaru?!"  
Katsuo exclaimed.

They watched as Yamato slowly emerged from the woods.

"Masaru would never let an opponent escape… If that guy's here, that means Masaru is dead"

"…"  
A grieving frown spread across Katsuo's face.  
"Brother…"

Noburu formed a hand seal.  
"Mist release!"

A thick mist quickly enveloped the three of them.  
As they began to fade away, escaping. Yamato fell to his knees, panting.  
There were a few moments of silence, the only thing that was heard was the soft panting of the tired shinobis.

Shikamaru stumbled out of the woods, exhausted but unharmed.  
He quickly walked towards Sakura, and transferred a large amount of chakra to her, enabling her to begin healing her comrades.

"…We need backup"  
Shikamaru said as he helped Yamato to his feet.

"I know… I've already released the seal on the scroll…"  
he wiped of some of the blood from his face.  
"We'll head back to that bridge we crossed a day ago, the reinforcements will meet us there…"

He walked up to where Noburu had stood when he's leg got impaled. He kneeled down and drew a blood sample from the pool on the ground.

"Gather anything that could have their scent from the camp, clothing preferably"

"Captain Yamato"  
Sai walked towards him.  
"…What about the girl?"

Yamato stood silent for a moment.

"We'll hold a ceremonial burial for her…"

* * *

Hinata arrived at the bridge with the rest of her team, exhausted.  
They'd been traveling for two days straight, only stopping to catch their breath once in a while.

Kurenai looked around.  
"This is the place…"  
"Alright, rest up a bit, we'll wait for them here"

"Aaahhh!"  
Kiba exhaled as he almost dropped to the ground.  
"I'm beat!"

They hadn't been waiting for long when the others arrived.

"Asuma…"  
Kurenai softly whispered to herself with a smile as their eyes met.

Yamato immediately began explaining their situation as they all gathered around.  
Even though she was listening, and paying attention. Hinata couldn't help but discretely eyeing Naruto.  
He seemed frustrated, and had scars and burns across his face.

-_Naruto-Kun…_-

"So, Kiba"  
Yamato turned facing him.

He pulled out pieces of a shirt they had found in their tent, along with the blood he had drawn.

"You think you and Akamaru can track them using these scents?"  
Kiba sniffed the rag and the sample of blood.  
"No problem!"  
he exclaimed.  
"We got this!"

"Good"  
Yamato looked around.  
"We'll set up camp here for tonight, we all need our rest. We'll continue in the morning"

Night came quickly.  
Hinata leaned against a tree by the camp.  
She glanced over at Naruto. He was sitting at the campfire, he had been very quiet, obviously frustrated.  
He wasn't the only one. The rest of his team and Asuma's were very quiet and frustrated.  
She wanted to talk to him. But she couldn't disturb him now. If she went to him now and told him her feelings, it would only make things worse, and distract him from the mission. It would have to wait until after the mission.  
She sighed and lowered her head.

"Hey..How you holding up?"  
Kurenai said with a soft smile as she sat down next to her.

"Oh, Kurenai-Sensei… Hello…"  
she tried to return the smile, but Kurenai could obviously see it was fake.

Kurenai giggled.  
"You know... i was once like you"

Hinata looked at her, a bit confused. Not knowing where the conversation was going.

"I was incredibly shy around boys, and didn't know how to tell this guy how I felt towards him… But I realized, it's better to try, no matter the outcome"  
she smiled at Hinata.  
"If you don't, then you'll never know what could have been. Right?"

Hinata looked at her, her eyes widening and her face blushing.

"K-kurenai-sensei…Y-you know?..."  
she felt her pulse quickening.

She realized her crush on him might have been noticeable, but she honestly didn't think anyone had realized.

Kurenai laughed.  
"Of course I know"  
she put her hand on Hinata's shoulder.  
"I'm your sensei, after all"

She watched as the embarrassed Hyuuga tried to hide her face underneath her hair. Kurenai smiled.

"I won't push you"  
she paused  
"But you two would make a cute couple"  
she patted her on the shoulder as she stood up and left.

Hinata felt so embarrassed. She slowly looked up, peeking through the long strands of hair covering her face.  
Naruto was standing up. He arched his back as he stretched, letting out a sigh. Then began walking to his tent, he entered it and closed it behind him.

-_Naruto-Kun.._-  
-_Please wait…_-  
-_After this… I promise…_-  
She stood up, and walked towards her tent.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in anyway.**

_Please leave reviews._

**Update:**_ From now on the chapters will be half the length of CH1 and CH2._

_====Chapter Three====_

Hinata laid awake in her tent, simply staring up at the ceiling of her tent.  
She'd been awake for a while now. She was worrying about the mission.  
She went through different scenarios in her head, contemplating the worst, thinking about how she should act in the worst case scenario.

As she heard the others starting to get ready, she took a deep breath.  
For some reason, she started picturing Naruto's giant smile in front of her. A soft satisfying smile was brought to her lips. But she quickly shook it off.

-_No!.._-  
-_I have to focus on the mission!_-

She crawled out of her sleeping bag, rolled it up into a cylindrical 'tube', and got dressed.

Yamato stood with Asuma and Kurenai, talking about some tactics as they waited for the rest to pack up the camp.  
As the group gathered, Yamato looked at them.

"Alright… Before we get going, let's do a quick recap of what we talked about last night"

Last night, they had gathered around the campfire as they finished setting camp, they talked about how they would be fighting the next battle. They discussed everything, every little detail they could think of.  
Shikamaru had explained that he suspected that Noburu had used genjutsu on them, some kind of chakra leak, easily exhausting them.  
With Kurenai now with them, they believed they had the upper hand, as she was highly skilled with genjutsu, and would probably be able to break it if they were to be caught. They had come up with a plan.  
Yamato, Sai and Asuma; would try and drive away Isamu and Katsuo to fight them away from the rest, while they fought the leader, Noburu.  
The enemy would be much more careful this time, and Shikamaru would probably not be able to constrain them that easily this time.

Yamato took out the piece of cloth they found, along with the sample of blood.  
He handed it to Kiba, who smelled the cloth and memorized it. He let Akamaru smell the blood sample.

"Got it?"  
Yamato looked at Kiba.

Kiba nodded.

"Okay! From here on, Kiba and Akamaru will take the lead. Kiba, when you sense that we are getting close, I want you to signal to Hinata. At that point we will come to a halt, and Hinata will activate her Byakugan and check our surroundings"

Kiba and Hinata nodded.

"We're off!"

They quickly ran towards the forest, and disappeared.

* * *

It had been a few hours since they took off now.  
As they jumped from tree to tree, Naruto glanced over at Hinata. She looked determined, and confident.  
It was a look that fit her very much. It was a shame she didn't portrait that more often, even though she was still very cute when she was quiet and shy.

He felt as if he couldn't take his eyes off of her.  
Her long, elegant hair almost whipped behind her as she graciously soared between the tree tops. She was beautiful.  
Ever since they, quite literally 'ran into each other', she had been on his mind a lot. He did however feel a little let down that she didn't show up the other day. He wasn't 'angry', but it was frustrating.

-_I never thought Hinata was the kind of person to stand someone up like that…_-  
-_…Nah… there must be some kind of explanation, she wouldn't do such a thing… would she?_-  
-_But I thought at least she would say something at the camp last night…_-  
He started to pout slightly.  
-_Did she really ignore me?.. she couldn't have, right?.. Perhaps she just forgot.._-

He looked over at her again. She noticed him looking her way, and looked to her side, right at him.  
She got a bashful look on her face and slightly began blushing. She quickly focused her eyes in front of her again.  
But Naruto mistook her Bashfulness as something else, Arrogance perhaps.

He pouted again  
-_…what's with her?_-

A few minutes later, Kiba quickly came to a halt and gestured to Hinata.  
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks.  
Hinata nodded.

-_Byakugan!_-

They waited patiently as she searched the surrounding area with her Byakugan.

-_…_-  
-_There!_-

She gestured to her comrades. They quickly dropped to the ground.

Noburu stood still..  
Suddenly he drew his sword and spun around, sending a wave of razor sharp air towards the bushes behind him as his blade cut through the air.

"Shit!.. Dodge!"  
Asuma yelled from the top of his lungs.

As the group lunged up out from behind the bushes, they landed only a few meters in front of Noburu and his comrades.

"…I see you brought reinforcements this time"

Naruto clenched his fists  
"…"

"Doesn't matter… I'll finish you this instant"

Yamato looked at Sai and Asuma.  
"Now!"

Before anyone had the time to react, they had made their way behind Noburu, and managed to push Katsuo and Isamu away a good ten meters.  
Noburu got ready to slash his sword towards the three of them, but quickly stopped himself as he brought his blade in front of him to guard himself.  
While he let himself be distracted by what just happened, Naruto and Kiba had launched an attack at him.  
He managed to block them. Jumping back slightly, he looked over his shoulders. His comrades along with the three chasing them, were nowhere to be seen.

"…You think splitting us up will give you an upper hand?..."  
he stared at Naruto.  
"Naive…"

His eyes widened, quickly glancing over the group in front of him.

"I'll end you this-…"

When his eyes met Kurenai's, he froze.  
After a few seconds he grinned.

"Impressive… no one has ever been able to break my genjutsu…"

Even though his genjutsu had been dispelled, he didn't show any lack of confidence.

"No matter…"  
he drew his sword in front of him, pointing towards them.  
"You die now…"

* * *

Just outside the thick forest, at a large meadow stood Yamato, Asuma and Sai, Facing Katsuo and Isamu.  
A rather large explosion was heard behind them, suddenly large drops of water rained down over the place of the explosion.

"…What the hell was that"  
Asuma muttered.  
He shared a concerned look with Yamato.

"Heh!, that would be Lord Noburu's concentrated water explosion"  
Katsuo looked at Isamu.  
"Looks like he's getting serious"

"Yes…"  
Isamu glanced at the three in front of him.  
"And so should we…"

Katsuo grinned as he nodded.  
"The tree-guy is mine… I'll get revenge for my brother…"

**The battle raged on for more than an hour.**

"Ghh.. Bastard…"

Naruto stood holding his left arm, he had several deep cuts.  
Next to him stood Kiba and Kurenai, they were barely in a better condition than him.  
Behind them, sat Shikamaru on his knees, while in a rather bad condition himself, he acted as support while shielding the rest behind him.

Furthest back, sat Sakura and Ino, fully dedicated into healing both Choji and Shino, whom had gotten badly injured, but not fatal.  
Hinata was also there, not very injured at all. In fact, she was probably the less injured of them all.  
She had managed to add great support for the group, dispelling several of Noburu's attacks using her 'Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms' technique.  
But in doing so, she had severely exhausted herself.

-_Dammit…_-  
She looked up towards the back of Naruto.  
-_Naruto-Kun…_-

She was happy and confident in herself that she had been able to help the group as much as she had.  
But now she was frustrated in the fact that she could barely move anymore.  
Noburu, unable to use his genjutsu, had suffered several blows and cuts, he was badly injured.  
But he was far from defeated.

Just as Naruto and Kiba got ready to charge at Noburu, they were stopped by several shurikens thrown at them. They managed to block them.  
Seconds later, Katsuo dropped down at Noburu's side, he was badly injured, and missing an arm.

Noburu looked at Katsuo.  
"…Isamu?.."

Katsuo had an withdrawn look on his face

"…I'm sorry.. he…"

Noburu's grip tightened around the hilt of his sword.  
Kurenai's face lit up at the sight of Asuma. He had made his way beside her. She looked past him.

"…Yamato and Sai?.."

"Don't worry"  
he assured her.  
"Captain Yamato got badly injured, but he should be fine. Sai stayed with him"

She sighed and quickly brought her eyes towards the remaining enemies.

A hint of rage had come over Noburu.

"…Katsuo… Let's end this. For our brothers…"

With a grieving yet determined look on his face, Katsuo nodded.  
Before anyone could react Katsuo flung himself at them, while Noburu drew water from the nearby river, molding large amounts of chakra into the water as it formed to an enormous ball.  
Suddenly the ball shrank quickly and steam evaporated from it.

"Noburu! That's too much!... A concentrated bomb at that scale will wipe out even us!"

But Noburu, lost in a fit of rage ignored his comrade.

Another explosion could be heard in the large forest.  
The area around the battle was nothing more than ruins.  
The trees that once flourished there had been reduced to nothing but dust.

As the sky above opened up, letting small beams of light shine down, Noburu glared to his side.  
Katsuo lay lifeless next to him.  
He shakingly stood up, his eyes fixed towards him. His attacks seemed to have failed. Naruto and the rest was in bad shape, but alive.  
He stumbled as he stood, looking down he saw the big puddle of blood beneath him.  
He was done for.  
A large grin spread across his face. He started laughing.

"Hah…Haha.. Hahahaha!"

"Gh…You bastard… Why the hell are you laughing?!"  
Naruto clenched his fists.

Noburu stared at Naruto.  
"It's funny… Never had I thought anyone would be able to defeat me, no matter how many allies…"  
His eyes trailed towards Kurenai.  
"But because of this…Bitch.. Heh.. Hindsight is a precarious thing"

He drew his sword to his side, and with the little stamina left in him, he dashed towards her. Knowing full well he was done for.  
As he closed the distance, he grinned and laughed again.

**Slash!**  
**The sound of a sharp knife echoed throughout the air.**  
**Followed by the sounds of a wet thump.**

Inches in front of Kurenai stood Asuma, holding his knuckle knifes in front of him, drenched in blood.  
As the grin on Noburu's face slowly disappeared, and his breath ceased, everyone sighed and most of them dropped to their knees.

"Finally… That was.. troublesome"  
Shikamaru sighed as he fell back leaning against a rock amongst the rumble.

Naruto sat on both his knees, breathing heavily and just staring down into the ground.

_-Naruto-kun…-_  
Hinata was shaking with an anxious look on her face.  
_-Thank god you're alive…-_

* * *

"Ahhhh!"  
Kiba let out an enormous sigh as he sat down leaning against a large tree.  
"Finally we're making camp! I don't think I could move another inch today!"  
"Right Hinata?"

he looked at her with a grin, in attempt to be funny and lighten everyone's mood as she and Shino sat down next to him.

"..Yeah"  
she gave him a sheepish smile.

Shino sighed.  
"Nobody ever asks me…"

Kiba looked at him questioningly.  
"What?"

"…Nothing"

"Alright guys"  
Asuma spoke up.  
"We make camp here for tonight. We've made good time, I reckon we have one more day until we reach Konoha"

With the help of Sai, he had carried Yamato from the battlefield. He gently put him down on the ground.

"Will Captain Yamato be okay?"  
Sai asked

"Don't worry, he's unconscious now. But with the continuation of Sakura's and Kurenai's healing, he should be stable at the time we get to Konoha"  
Asuma reassured him.

As the sun began to set, and the camp had been set, most of the group sat around the fire.  
Hinata sat leaning against a tree, her eyes fixed on Naruto. He was sitting beside Shikamaru on the other side of the camp.  
A few minutes passed, until Shikamaru stood up and waved to him as he headed towards his tent.

Hinata tensed up. Naruto was alone.  
She let out a sigh and clenched her fists as she stood up.  
This was her chance to talk to him.  
She walked towards him with determined steps.

"N-naruto-kun… Good e-evening.."

He looked up at her, surprised.  
"Oh, Hinata…Hi"

"…H-how are your wounds?..."

"Oh, it's nothing, they're fine.."

Hinata noticed he was putting up a cold front towards her, but she couldn't understand why.  
It was almost as if he was angry… But why?

"Naruto-Kun… i…"  
she was cut off as he spoke up.

"Actually... I'm kind of surprised you're even talking to me"

Hinata looked chocked. What?  
"W-why…Would.."

"Yeah… Since you never showed up that day…"

Hinata widened her eyes. She thought he knew that she had fallen ill that day.  
"Naruto! i.."

"Really.. you shouldn't make promises you won't keep…"

She didn't know how to respond, she battled with herself to get any word out, anything at all.  
"…"

"You know…"  
Naruto looked to his side and sighed.  
"I really didn't think you were that kind of person Hinata…"

She could feel her eyes tearing up.  
_-No.. Please don't think of me that way…-_

"Ah… it doesn't matter does it… Maybe… Maybe you should just go.."

Hinata could feel as she started to shake, she wasn't far from breaking down.  
She stood in front of him for a moment. Unable to respond.  
After a while she turned and walked away, quickening her pace slowly but surely, until she disappeared in the woods behind the camp.

Naruto clenched his fist and shook his head.  
"Idiot… Why did I have to say all that… So unnecessary…"

"Naruto!"

He looked up to see Sakura coming towards him  
"Sakura?.."

"What the hell did you do?"

"What? I-"

"I saw you talking to Hinata, and suddenly she ran towards the woods, and I could clearly see that she was crying! What the hell did you say to her?!"  
Sakura yelled at Naruto.

_-What?...-_  
"She… She was crying?..."

"Yeah… poor Hinata… How can you be mean to her? Especially now, as she just got better from her illness"

He flung his head at Sakura and stood up.  
"Illness?... What do you mean?"

"You didn't know? Yeah, she got some kind of lung virus a while ago, and was bed-written for a few days. Actually it was the day after you got back"

_-…That explains why she didn't show up…-_  
_-Dammit! I'm such an idiot…-_  
_-Hinata…-_

"Sakura, where did she go?"

"Huh?... Oh she went into the woods over there"  
Sakura pointed towards some large trees in front of a cliff.  
"You better go apologize, or else i-"

Naruto quickly ran towards the woods before Sakura got to finish her sentence.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in anyway.**

_Please leave reviews._

_====Chapter Four====_

Hinata stumbled through the woods; she reached a river just beneath the cliff in front of her.  
She fell to her knees, shaking.

"Naruto…"

Tears began rushing down her cheeks. She quickly brought her hands to her face, resting it in the palms of her hands as she let the tears fall down, crying uncontrollably.  
The one person she wanted to acknowledge her, the person she spent most of her awaken hours fantasizing about…  
The only one for her… Naruto, seemed to think of her as an arrogant, stuck up person.  
She shook her head.

"No... Please.. No!.. I'm not like that!"

She felt the cold autumn air blowing around her as it flung her hair around. Shivers raced from her head to her knees, it was incredibly cold. But she couldn't care less right now.

For most of her life, she's been admiring him, and it quickly developed into an overwhelming will to be with him. She was completely and utterly love struck.  
She knew the possibility of him not returning her feelings if she ever confessed, and while there was nothing in the world she wanted more than for him to return them, she would accept it if he didn't, no matter how hurt and saddened she'd become.  
But, the worst thing she could imagine would be Naruto having ill thoughts of her. And right now, that seemed to be reality.

As the wind picked up its speed, and the sounds of the tree's blowing in the wind increased, Hinata allowed herself to sob louder.  
For all these years she's worked on her self-confidence, working up the courage to talk to him about her feelings. But now, everything seemed meaningless. Was it all for nothing?

She tried to control herself, and managed to restrain most of the tears from rushing down her cheeks, slowly her sobbing stopped.  
She looked up at the night sky and lowered her hands to her side, crossing her arms. She could no longer deny the cold. She began to shiver more violently.  
She threw one last look at the sky above her.

_-…That's it then…-_  
_-I'll never be able to be with him…-_  
Her eyes began tearing up again.

Just as she was about to stand up, she felt something enveloping her from behind. She immediately felt warmer.  
She quickly looked down to her side, to see what it was.  
Her eyes widened in confusion.

_-__Wha?..That…-_  
_-That's Naruto-Kun's jacket!..-_

Hinata glared over her shoulder to see Naruto standing over her, he had an apologetic look on his face.

"n-naruto-kun…"  
her whisper though silent, seemed to echo around them.

He looked at her with a smile.  
"You shouldn't sit out here in the cold Hinata…"

She gripped the sleeves of his jacket that was hanging to her side, and tugged at them pulling the jacket tighter around her.  
An almost frustrated look spread across her face as she looked at him and lowered her eyebrows. She opened her mouth slightly to speak, but once again, her confidence failed her.  
She couldn't get a word out, she had no idea how to interpret this situation.  
First he seemed mad at her, and now…? She couldn't make sense of the world right now.

"Hinata…"

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed as the smile on his face disappeared.  
He put his hand on her shoulder and kneeled down behind her.

"I'm sorry I was so mean…"

Hinata felt her heartbeat quickening. He was so close, he was almost whispering straight into her ear.

"I…I didn't know you were sick that day"  
he sighed again.  
"I thought you just ignored me, and I got a little frustrated because I was looking forward to talk with you…"  
"I'm so sorry I said what I said, I know you're not that kind of person. Can you forgive me?.."

He flinched slightly, prepared for the worst. But before he could react, Hinata turned around where she sat, and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.  
Naruto sat dumbfounded without saying a word.  
After a moment Hinata slowly let him go of her grip and looked down at the ground.

"Naruto-Kun…"  
her cheeks turned red.  
"Yes, o-of course I forgive you…"

Naruto let out a sigh of relief.  
"You're not mad at me?..."

"N-no… i-i'm just glad y-you don't think of me like that…"

"Hinata…"

They sat in an awkward silence for a moment.  
Suddenly Naruto stood up.

"We should get back to the camp and warm ourselves at the fire, don't ya think?"  
he chuckled.

Hinata nodded and was about to stand to her feet, but as she looked in front of her she saw Naruto offering her a hand to help her stand.  
Her face turned red, but she quickly accepted the gesture with a blissful smile.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata walked back to the camp, not exchanging many words as they both felt rather awkward at this point. But they both felt happy just walking alongside each other.  
It wasn't long until they reached the camp. Most of the others still sat at the fire, conversing.  
Only Sakura noticed Hinata and Naruto returning and sitting down by the fire. The others not even knowing they were gone. And no one even realized Hinata was wearing Naruto's jacket over her shoulders.  
Sakura let out a sigh of relief, happy they weren't fighting anymore.

They sat in silence, staring into the dancing fire in front of them.  
Hinata didn't feel cold anymore, but every now and then she tugged Naruto's jacket tighter around her, and every time she did, her cheeks blushed and a serene smile crept onto her lips.  
The jacket felt so cozy, and furthermore it smelled like him.

After nearly twenty minutes the fire was put out and everyone said goodnight as they shuffled off to their tents.  
Hinata looked over to Naruto with a bashful smile.

"G-goodnight N-Naruto-Kun…"

Naruto couldn't help but blush. She looked adorable.  
"G-Goodnight Hinata. See you tomorrow"

Hinata nodded shyly before walking over to her tent.  
As she zipped open her tent, she stared back over her shoulder towards Naruto's tent. Their eyes met as he had done the same thing.  
She blushed and let out a small "eep!" and flung her head towards the tent and hurried inside.  
She closed the tent and sat down.

Her face turned red, and a blissful look spread across her face.  
With her heartbeat quickening, she let herself fall down to her side.

_-Naruto-kun..-_  
_-Thank god you're not angry at me anymore!-_

As she turned slightly trying to get comfy, she realized something… She was still wearing his jacket over her shoulders!  
With her eyes widened she looked down at the jacket.

_-Surely he must have noticed me still wearing this…-_  
_-Did… Did he… lend it for me over the night..?-_

She pulled the jacket closer to her and smiled.

_-Oh…Naruto…__-_

* * *

The morning came too quickly.  
Hinata had been awake for a few hours, snuggling with Naruto's jacket.  
She didn't want to leave her tent, she would probably have to return his jacket when she did, and that might get quite awkward. And the others might see her with it…

"uuuggnn…"  
she groaned as she buried her face in the makeshift pillow she had made of his jacket.

"Arf arf!"  
A sound came from outside her tent.

Kiba laughed.  
"Hinata! Akamaru says it's time to wake up! Hehe"

"uunnhh, Kiba… Shut up…"  
she mumbled.

"C'mon, wakey wakey!"

Hinata sighed and got dressed.

She stood in front of her tent, looking around the camp. Holding Naruto's jacket in her right arm, and covering it with her left hand in attempt to hide it from the others.  
Everyone seemed busy packing their stuff.  
Her eyes trailed to Naruto. He was almost finished taking his tent down.  
She took a sharp breath and slowly walked towards him.

"G-good morning.. Naruto-kun…"

Naruto turned around and smiled.

"Oh! Good morning Hinata-Chan. Slept well?"

Hinata nodded shyly.

"uhm… H-here's y-your jacket…"

Hinata slowly reached her hands out, handing him the jacket back.  
It was carefully folded in her hands, it almost looked new.

"T-thanks for letting m-me borrow it…"  
she felt her face becoming red a she blushed.

Naruto couldn't help but blush himself.

"N-no problem Hinata"  
he grinned.  
"I hope it helped keeping you warm"

"Y-yes…"

Naruto thanked her as he took his jacket, unfolded it and put it on.  
He blushed slightly. It almost smelled more of her than him now.  
They stood silent for a moment before she spoke up.

"i-i should probably go pack m-my things…"

"Ah, yeah. Um, see ya later Hinata"

They smiled at each other and waved.  
As Hinata walked back to her tent, a warm feeling spread in her stomach. She felt incredibly blissful.

The day passed by, and finally they reached the gate of Konoha. It was late in the evening.  
After a small pause to catch their breath they proceeded to the Hokage tower to report the mission result.  
Leaving only Asuma and Sai as they took Yamato to the hospital.

After almost an hour of debriefing the tired group stepped outside.  
They conversed for a moment before splitting and heading home.

Hinata walked down the road, she brought her hand to her mouth hiding her yawn, she was very tired.

"Hinata!"  
A voice came from behind her.

She turned around to see Naruto walking up to her.

"N-Naruto-Kun.."  
she looked a little confused, wondering what he could want this late in the evening.

"Heading home?"  
Naruto asked in attempt to make some small talk.

"uhm…Y-yeah, i am"

"Mind if I walk with you?"

Hinata felt her knees shake as she nervously responded.  
"s-s-sure… If y-you want t-to.."  
she turned her head down the road and blushed.

Very few words were said as they walked towards the Hyuuga main house.  
But Hinata didn't care. It was enough just to walk beside him in the silent dark town.  
The streetlights they passed from time to time, made the air around them feel quite romantic, making them both blush.

Before long they reached the entrance to the Hyuuga house.  
Hinata turned to Naruto.

"Uhm..T-thanks for w-walking me home…Naruto-kun.."  
she held her hand between her chest as she looked at him.

"No problem Hinata… It was nice"  
he rubbed the back of his head.

There was a moment of silence. If it had been a date this would be where he would kiss her.  
Hinata blushed madly at her thoughts. Oh how she wished it had been a date.

"W-well g-goodnight Naruto-kun…"

She was about to turn around and enter the house, but Naruto spoke up.

"Um wait Hinata.."

She looked at him with big anticipating eyes.  
"Y-yes?..."

"Uhm, I was thinking.."  
he showed a sheepish grin as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.  
"Since we never did get to catch up before, if… If you're not busy tomorrow, maybe we could meet up and talk?.."

Hinata felt as her heart began to beat faster and faster.  
"Y-Yes!..I-I would like that!.."  
A bashful and genuine smile spread across her lips.

"Great!"  
Naruto smiled.

"Shall we meet at the park we passed earlier at noon then?"

"S-sure!.. T-that sounds great!"

"Alright… Well, goodnight then Hinata"  
he turned and began walking as he waved.

"G-Goodnight Naruto-Kun!"

* * *

Hinata quietly stumbled through the house, she felt it a little difficult to walk right now, her head was racing with thoughts. Tomorrow she was going to confess to Naruto!  
It had to be tomorrow, she had put it off for far too long now.  
Before heading to her room she walked towards her father's study.

_-I'd better meet father and tell him I'm back from the mission__-_

She softly knocked on the door and waited. The lights were on so he was definitely in there.

"Yes?"

"Father. I'm back, the mission was a success"

"Good, you may enter"

Hinata walked in and closed the door behind her. She sat down on a cushion in front of a low table.  
She briefed him on the mission.

"…I'm glad you were able to help rid the world of pests like them"  
"And I'm glad you made it home safe and 'Untouched'…"

Hinata sat in silence, but nodded slightly.

"Now, I know it's ultimately the Hokage's decision, but I'd like for you to decline future missions of that caliber. Do you understand?"

"…Father"

"I said, Do you understand?"  
His voice became more demanding and stern.

Hinata rarely went against her father's wishes. But she wanted more 'Difficult' missions. It was good training for her, and she always fought extremely well under pressure.  
She couldn't help but think that if he had seen her during that mission, he would think differently.  
But she stayed silent.

"…"

"Good. Now, since you're no longer bed-written we'll pick up training with your sister and Neji again. We will start tomorrow just before noon."

Hinata flung her head up and stared at him.  
"Tomorrow?..."

_-No! I __**won't**__ abandon Naruto again…"_

"Uhm, Father… Does it have to be tomorrow? Can't we begin the day after tomorrow instead?..."  
she held her breath.

"Nonsense, there is no reason to waste time. Training is important, you know that"

"But..Father please.."  
she gripped the fabrics of her pants in frustration.

"Enough! Hyuuga's don't beg"  
his voice became increasingly harsher.

He gestured to the door behind her.  
"Now, I have to finish these writings. Goodnight Hinata"

"…"  
she stood up and bowed to him before heading to her room.

As Hinata entered her room, she battled with the urge to slam the door behind her, but that would be like throwing oil into a burning fire. She managed to calm herself down and closed it quietly behind her.  
She threw herself on her bed and stared at her ceiling.

_-Damnit!...-_

She took her rage out on her pillow and furiously started punching it.

**Frustrated and exhausted, Hinata quickly fell asleep.**  
**The night came and went fast.**

Hinata opened her eyes and slowly turned her head to her window. The sun soared high in the sky.  
She quickly sat up and turned facing her clock. It was an hour and a half before noon.  
She looked down at her body; she was still wearing her clothes.

_-…I must have been really tired last night-_

She stumbled out of bed and walked towards her window. She took a deep breath before opening it and slowly climbed out.  
As quietly and quickly she could, she sneaked away from the house unnoticed.

Hinata walked around the park admiring the scenery. She still had an hour or so before she was to meet Naruto. She tried to keep her mood up as she thought what she just had done.

_-Father will be furious…-_

She had never run away from home before. Nor had she skipped training, and Hiashi took training extremely serious. But right now Naruto was far more important to her, so she pushed the thoughts of Hiashi to the back of her head.

It wasn't long before she found herself sitting on a bench waiting for Naruto.  
Her heart was beating fast; he would be here any minute now.  
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

_-I want to confess to him today… No, I have to do it!-_  
_-…But I can't just jump him…-_  
_-I have to lean into it somehow…-_

A smile crept unto her lips as she let out giggle.  
It felt weird sitting and planning her confession, weird but exciting.  
Her eyes lit up as she turned her head. She quickly jumped to her feet.

"Oi! Hinata!~"

Naruto walked towards her waving with a grin on his face.  
His smile was exhilarating.

"N-Naruto-Kun!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in anyway.**

Uuugh! I haven't had much time to write much the last few months really. And I'm starting to lose confident in my writing all together.  
But still, I hope you like it. I still have a few stuff I want to write, and I'll try to do more soon.  
_Please leave reviews!_

**Update:** _New format for all chapters. __(actually a while ago I updated the other chapters, lol)_

_====Chapter Five====_

The village was rather busy at this time of day, especially at the market square.  
Hinata and Naruto walked between the busy market stalls laughing together with big warm smiles.  
Kurenai's little 'speech' had really come through to Hinata; she just had to take the leap, no matter the outcome.  
So Hinata had drawn forth every bit of confidence she had inside her, and with great success.  
They had talked and laughed so much these last three hours that there had barely been a moment of silence between them.

He was kind of surprised of the change in her character; she showed sides of her he'd never seen before. And he loved it.

"Haha! Naruto-kun no more!... I c-can't breathe!"

She had to lean against a rail behind her for support so she wouldn't fall over from laughter.  
Naruto stood in front of her doing an imitation of Gai and Lee.

_As Lee- _"These stretchy pants go good with everything!"  
He turned around.  
_As Gai- _"That's the power of youth!"

"Hahaha please! Naruto… I can't..."  
Hinata held her hand in front of her mouth in attempt to muffle her laughter as she almost collapsed.

"That was pretty accurate wouldn't you say Hinata? Hehe"  
Naruto put both his hands behind his head and grinned.

"Yeah!... That was spot on Naruto-kun"  
she smiled at him as she giggled and steadied herself.

As their laughter slowly faded, Hinata's stomach made a small embarrassing grumble.  
She quickly blushed and hoped Naruto didn't notice.  
He looked at her and grinned.

"Hehe, you hungry Hinata?"

"…Y-yeah, I guess I haven't eaten anything at all today"  
she let out a small bashful smile.

"Alright, well let's get something to eat then!"  
he looked around at all the food stalls around them.

"Ah… b-but I don't have my wallet on me…

"Don't worry Hinata-chan! It's my treat!"  
he let out a huge smile.

"Oh! No, you d-don't have to do t-that…"  
Hinata shyly shook her head as her cheeks blushed pink.

"It's no problem Hinata-chan!"  
"Now what would you like?"  
he looked around them again.

"oh o-okay… Thank you Naruto-kun.."  
she felt as a spoiled child. But she wouldn't mind being spoiled by him. She let out a warm smile.  
"uhm.. Oh!"  
she looked over at a stall across the street.  
"There, Cinnamon rolls"

The Cinnamon rolls being sold at the stall were rather big, and a couple of them would probably be enough to fill a grown man.

"You like Cinnamon rolls Hinata?"  
he looked at her with a smile.

"Y-yeah, they're my favorite"

"Oh, I didn't know that"  
he gave her warm smile  
"I guess you already know my favorite though, huh?"  
he chuckled.

Hinata couldn't help but giggle.  
"Yeah, Miso Ramen"

"Oh! Have you've been spying on me Hinata-chan? Hehe"  
he jokingly teased her and laughed.

Her face quickly became flustered. You could say that she had 'kind of' stalked him over the years.  
It was rather embarrassing. Fortunately for her, Naruto didn't notice her fluster.

"Three Cinnamon rolls please"  
Naruto walked towards the stall and ordered their food.

"Three?.."  
Hinata looked at him questioningly.

"Yeah, I thought we'd have one each, and share the last. If that's okay with you?"

Hinata gently played with the strands of her hair as she blushed at him.  
"…Y-yeah, that s-sounds f-fine…"  
_-Sharing… with Naruto-kun…-_

Even though it wasn't like a whole meal, somehow it still felt romantic. And she couldn't keep from giggling at the thought that Naruto probably had no idea that he was showing signs of romance.  
They continued walking around and looking at the different stalls of the market as they ate their Cinnamon rolls.

**Slowly, the sun moved across the sky and began to set.**  
**The night sky brought out all kinds of insects, and amongst them loud crickets could be heard.**

Hinata walked besides Naruto in a large park illuminated by lanterns. The scenery was beautiful.  
She glanced at him, her heart was racing. The day was coming to an end…  
This was it! it was now or never…  
She looked over at him again as he let out a yawn and stretched.

"Aah!.. This was a fun day Hinata-chan. I had lots of fun"  
he looked at her and smiled.

"Y-yes, it was w-wonderful…"

"Do you want me to walk you home?"

Hinata felt her knees going week. She took a large breath and let it out in a sigh.

"…No"

Naruto looked confused. Her sweet smile was gone, replaced by a serious frown.

"Hinata… is something wrong?.."

"…I'd better walk home by myself, my father is bound to be waiting for me… and he's probably furious with me…"

"…Why would he be furious?"  
Naruto looked at her intensively. He knew her father was stern, but why would he be angry? Curfew? It's not really that late…

"Because… I snuck out today…"

"Huh?… I don't understand Hinata"  
he looked at her confusingly.

Hinata sighed as she gently walked towards him, avoiding his gaze as she tilted her head down slightly, focusing her eyes on his chest.  
She was standing inches from him, shaking.  
Naruto didn't know how to interpret this situation, but he found himself blushing.

"…I was supposed to be training today, probably the whole day…"  
she sighed nervously as she raised her arms and grabbed his sleeves.  
"B-but… that didn't matter, I h-had something far m-more important…"

Hinata tightened her grip on his sleeves and pulled herself up close to him.  
Naruto stood dumbfounded.

"Hi-Hinata…Chan?.."

His face turned red.  
As did hers.

"…You… N-naruto-kun…"  
"I wanted to meet you…"  
her arms started to feel weak as her heartbeat increased.

_-I can do this…-_

"…"  
"…N-naruto…"  
Hinata slowly raised her head to meet his eyes.  
She was blushing madly, and her eyes started to tear up.

"I… I'm in l-love with you!"

Naruto's eyes flung open wide.

"I've b-been in love with y-you for years…"

She felt as if there were a million things she wanted to say to him, but in her nervousness she struggled to find the right words.

"…you've been on my m-mind for as long as I can remember…"  
her voice began to shake.

"…E-even w-with these eyes… The only o-one I could see was you… Always you…"  
her grip on his sleeves increased even more.

"I'm s-sorry f-for dropping this on you s-so suddenly…"

"… i… I understand if you d-don't feel the same way…"

"But… but m-maybe…"

Hinata was cut off.  
Naruto had pulled her closer in a warm embrace, with her head resting on his shoulder. Hinata's eyes remained widened as she held her breath.

There was a moment of complete silence around them.

Hinata bit her lip and frowned nervously.  
_-Please… Say something…-_

But Naruto didn't know what to say…  
This was all so surprising to him. It was true that recently, he had been thinking of her a lot, and he felt drawn to her in a lot of ways…  
But he never thought that she felt this way.

He desperately tried to gather his thoughts, even though deep down, he knew.  
He was in love with her too...

They quietly pulled away from their embrace.  
Hinata looked at him with an anticipating look, her lips shaking as her eyes teared up slightly.

"Hinata…"  
he looked at her, their faces both red.  
"I…I'm sorry, this was very… sudden.. But i…"

Hinata could feel her heart pounding, as if it was about to burst out of her chest.  
She anticipated him rejecting her and interrupted him.  
She couldn't deal with that right now.

"I-its o-okay… N-naruto-kun… I-it's okay i-if you d-don't feel t-the same…"  
her voice was shaking furiously, and she let a few tears fall down her cheeks as she backed up a few steps.

"…"  
Naruto took both her hands and looked into her eyes.  
"Hinata…"

She found it hard to breathe as she looked at him.  
"It's ok… you don't have to-"

She stopped herself as he gently but firmly squeezed her hands.

"Hinata… I think… I think I'm in love with you too…"

Her heart fluttered, for a moment it felt as if it had stopped.

She looked at him with widened eyes.  
She couldn't believe it…  
_-What did he say?!...-_

"Na-Naruto… Kun.."

"…Hinata"

Naruto slowly leaned towards her.  
Her eyes widened even more when she understood what was about to happen, her face turned red in a deep flush.

Suddenly she felt his soft lips against hers and she almost panicked for a second.  
But she quickly closed her eyes in comfort and returned his kiss.  
She had dreamt of this moment for so long. And now that it had finally happened, it was a million times better than she could ever imagine!

_-Naruto… ooh~…-_

* * *

__Hinata entered the garden in front of the Hyuuga main building.  
Her face was still in a deep blush, and a wide warm smile was spread across her lips.

Just ten minutes ago, she had confessed her feelings to Naruto and he had returned the feelings with a kiss.  
Even though it had been wonderful, the tension and awkwardness had been too much for them at the moment, so they decided to say goodnight.

As she entered the house and walked down the hallway towards her room, her thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice.

"Hinata"

She looked up to see Hiashi in front of her, staring intently at her.  
His eyes were widened in a furious look.  
Hinata held her breath, and waited. It had been some time since she had seen him this angry, so she was afraid he would strike her. Even though he never had done that before.  
But he was so scary at this moment…

Suddenly he gestured to her to follow him as he turned around and walked down the hall towards his study.  
Hinata let out her breath in relief, even though she knew this was far from over. She quickly followed him.

Minutes passed.  
Hinata sat on a cushion in front of the low table in his study, with her head bowed down. Waiting for Hiashi to speak.  
Finally, he spoke up.

"Where were you"

It sounded more like a command than a question.

"…"

Hinata felt the sweat running down the back of her head.  
She couldn't tell him she was with Naruto…

As a child, Hinata was always told to stay away from Naruto. And she knew that her father still felt that way.  
Hiashi didn't 'Hate' Naruto, but he was one of the people who only saw him as a good for nothing screw up and carrier of the Nine-Tails.  
So if he found out that she skipped the training and snuck out to meet Naruto, all hell would break loose. And even worse if he found out she was in love with him. And the kiss…  
She had to lie.

"Answer!"  
his voice grew louder with anger.

"I-I was t-training with K-Kiba and Shino…"

She knew the moment those words left her lips that it was a terrible lie.  
Of course one of the first things he would do would be to check with her teammates…  
But she didn't know what else to say.

Hiashi slammed his hands on the table in front of him.  
"Lies!"  
"Don't you think I asked them?!"

He stared at her, waiting for an answer. But got none.  
Hinata was just sitting there. Nervously shaking.

He didn't want to see her like that, so he forced himself to calm down a bit, and lowered his voice.

"Daughter… I'm extremely disappointed in you"  
"You sneak out to skip training and you lie of your whereabouts…"  
"And I demand to know where you were!"

Hinata took a large breath. She would have to tell him, he wouldn't let her go unless she did.

"I… I was out… With N-Naruto…"

"What?"  
Hiashi gave her a disapproving look.  
"With that fool? I thought I told you to stay away from him"

"Father… H-he's not a fool…"

"Nonsense! He's a good for nothing idiot!"

"D-don't say that!"  
she flung her head up and looked at him with hurt in her eyes.

Hiashi widened his eyes in surprise.  
"You dare talk back to me?"  
"That fool has obviously thought you his poor manor"

"Father…"

"Enough!"  
"I don't ever want you to socialize with him again!"

"Father!... You can't…"

"Quiet!"  
"You will do as your told!"

"…"  
"No!..."

Hiashi stared at her in shock.

"I'm not your little girl a-anymore!"  
"I try to do as y-you wish father, b-but I have my own life to live!.."

Hinata hastily stood up  
"I won't let you stop me f-from seeing Naruto.."  
"Because… I love him!"

Hiashi slammed his hands on the table once more.  
"You fool!"  
"How can you speak such words!"  
"He is a good for nothing moron, and he will never be anything other than that!"

Hinata turned and faced the door.  
"I-I don't care what y-you think of him father…"

She slid the door open and rushed out, closing the door behind her.  
As Hinata ran towards her room she could hear Hiashi yelling after her and a loud bang, as if he'd flipped his table over.

With tears in her eyes she quickly entered her room and started to gather her things.  
Because of the way she just walked out on Hiashi, there was no doubt that he'd storm after her any minute now, and things would only get worse.  
She had to leave.

The moment she opened her window, and started to climb out, Hiashi stormed in.

"Hinata!"  
"If you do this, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT COMING BACK!"

He didn't really mean it, but in his rage he couldn't help but splurge out those words.  
But nevertheless, Hinata had already jumped out the window, and was long gone from sight.


End file.
